Alexander McBride

Alexander McBride served as supervisor of the munitions
laboratory that exploded in September 1862. McBride worked
at the arsenal from the mid-1840s through the conclusion of
the Civil War. His own daughter Catherine, age 13, worked
filling small arm cartridges. In the chaos immediately following
the blast, McBride searched for his daughter only to find that
she was among the victims killed by the exploding munitions.
Even in old age, McBride worked hard petitioning the federal
government for compensation for the victims and families.